Our first TheGrace event was held on 17 October 2008 at the St Matthew's Church Hall at Sherwood.

The event was held firstly to celebrate with thanks the Grace of God, and secondly to raise funds for the needy.

We raised over AUD$11,000 and these funds have been distributed to the following projects.

• Anglican Aid Abroad

- Ghana - Youth welfare program.

- Tanzania - Women's education in agriculture and child care (teaching women better and more efficient agricultural and animal husbandry to enable them to increase output from subsistence farms, and teach women better hygiene practices and better health care of children).

- Sudan - Construction of the grinding mill, which releases women and children from heavy labour and allows girls to attend school who might not otherwise be able.

• Melanesian Sisterhood - Supporting the Sisters to provide health and social work to young women in the Solomon Islands.

• Eagles Wings - Contributed towards the salary of a teacher and the school fees of a number of children at the Monkey Fountain campus of the Christian Community School in Zambia.

We would like to thank everyone who donated their time and funds to make this event such a success.